Using an IP network to provide video services in addition to voice and data services can present quality of service challenges. For instance, the bandwidth allotted to a single household communicating with an IP network can be limited by loop length, loop condition, or other physical layer constraints. If the overall IP traffic streamed to the household exceeds the allotted bandwidth, other traffic may be dropped, causing other households to experience service degradation. This can be particularly true with respect to video traffic, the quality of which can be especially sensitive to packet loss. Nonetheless, certain events, such as channel change and lost packet recovery may require additional bandwidth to meet quality of service standards for video traffic, while still avoiding bandwidth overflow. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved system and method of delivering video content.